My 1st Post!

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I wanted to create this to share my experiences up to now and to tell my story. This post will tell you all of the background story, over the coming weeks I will give more details on my past and keep you updated on my journey! Lets begin...

Me and my Husband have been trying for our first baby for nearly 16 months and it has not been an easy journey. The reason for this is mainly my fault! I have what is called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, I will call it PCOS though, for ease! This basically means I have numerous cysts on my ovaries, meaning I do not ovulate as regularly as I should, my egg quality won't always be brilliant, I am at high risk of miscarriage and weight is an issue (losing and maintaining).

I was first diagnosed with this in 2013, I remember it so clearly, I went for my blood test on Christmas Eve and got the results not long after, which confirmed I was at high risk of having PCOS, but I had to have an ultrasound to confirm it. So my Dr booked me in for an scan to confirm, me and my husband (not at the time) were then told, I had the syndrome. We were heartbroken, it doesn't mean that we can't have children it just means that we will struggle, which we have!!!

To date, I have not yet been back to the doctor to have any more medical treatment, it is something we really want to avoid if we can.

So, after being diagnosed we decided to stop all forms of contraception and just see what happened, although we were not married at this point. My cycles were all over the place and I was going 6 months without a period.

Fast forward to 2015, we were still not really trying but were in no means preventing. One evening, in April 2015 I started to experience horrible pains in my abdomen, towards the right. I didn't think much of it at first, I tried to sleep it off. When I woke up, the pain was still there, so I thought a trip to the Drs was the best thing to do. I saw my GP and she advised that it was probably one of my cysts that was irritated, inflamed or even twisting. She prescribed me some pain killers and told me to take it easy, so a day in bed it was!!

That evening, the pain was not improving and it was actually getting worse. My husband called 111 (NHS direct) to speak with some to get some advice, they made me an out of hours appointment with a GP at our local hospital, as they were worried it was my appendix. So we got in the car and drove 20 minutes down the road to the hospital where we were seen almost immediately by the GP. She felt my my stomach, took my temperature and general observations. She asked if there was any chance I could be pregnant? I said yes, I suppose so! But it is unlikely. She sent me away to the toilet to get a wee sample! After I embarrassingly wee'ed on my jeans!! and walked back through A&E reception with my pot she took a pregnancy test. 3 very long minutes past and she said the words 'the test is positive'. The only reaction me and my husband had, was to laugh. We laughed and just said 'you are joking'. The GP showed us the test, there was 2 lines! We couldn't believe it. I was admitted to hospital, bloods were taken and another test was done to confirm, yes I was pregnant. The gynaecologist looking after me was lovely, he explained I was very early and because I was in pain, they were worried I was having an ectopic pregnancy. I was discharged and an appointment was made for me at the EPU (early pregnancy unit) for 3 days later.

[Am I going into too much detail here?]

So, we spent the next week in and out of the EPU, having bloods done to check my HCG levels were rising correctly, which they were. Everything seemed fine, the pain was gone and we were expecting out first baby together.

Friday morning, I was 5 weeks pregnant that day. I woke up to blood, I had started to bleed over night. I just cried and cried. Mr B, (my husband) rang the EPU and they told me to go straight down. Bloods were taking and it was confirmed that I was losing the baby. We were in pieces, to be told it is something that may never happen and then told we had done it and then for it to be taken away, was just devastating.

Because they couldn't be sure if it was ectopic or if it was a miscarriage, I had to have an injection to speed the process up and help my body miscarry our baby. I don't think, I have ever felt such sadness in all my life, it was truly the worst experience we have ever gone through.

I was signed off work for 1 week, to heal and to come to terms with what had happened, although I really do not think 1 week is enough time! It was such a lonely place to be and I was so lucky to have my family and Mr B by my side.

After this had happened, Me and Mr B were planning our wedding. We got married on April 2016, it was the most magical day of our lives. Since this date, we have actively been trying for a baby rather than just 'seeing what happens' and to this date, we have not been successful. I have been through so many dark times, wondering if it would ever happen, why it hadn't happened and praying one day, it would.

We tried ovulation tests for a while, bit I found that this made me obsess over it, and it was adding so much stress onto out relationship (I will do a separate post on my obsessing and go into more detail). We tried not trying and hoping for the best! we tried pre-natal vitamins. Nothing was working.

So, lets bring this up to date. Last month I ordered an OvuSence Fertility monitor, it takes your temperature and is the only true way to know when you have ovulated. I am taking Inositol and some Seven Seas tablets. All of these things I will talk about in more detail, but I wanted to finish my post on a positive note. We are in such a good place right now, I have never felt so in control of my fertility. We are really excited to see what happens in our 16th cycle trying to conceive.

I suppose that is pretty much the basic history of our story so far! I will definitely explain in more detail of how PCOS has effected me, how OvuSence has helped me and the benefits of taking Inositol. But I guess I have to start somewhere, right?

I am looking forward to sharing my story with you all and going on this journey together.

Baby Dust,

Mrs B x